Gibson Pup?

[StevieM]

Hiya guys,
Can anyone identify this Gibson Pup?
It was on a CSL ES 335 that I got  second hand in the early 80's.  I'm pretty sure it wasn't installed as an original, but someone upgraded it.
I'm trying to find the model name/number or something? From what I've managed to find so far it dates probably from the early 60's to early 70's. The Pat num is 2,737,842.
There's a reading of about 7.4k

Also, got any idea what it might be worth?? smile3

Cheers.

   
   

[Saijinn Maas]

Here is all I could find...

After PAF pickups were gone, the patent# pickups were next and used from 1962 to 1965. Then from 1965 to 1975 (note overlap) the next Gibson humbucker is known as the "T bucker" or "T top". They are called this because of a "T" that is part of the molding on the front of the two pickup bobbins. These also had the decal with "Patent No 2,737,842" (still the patent number of Les Paul's trapeze tailpiece). The only way to see the "T" is to remove the pickup cover. A small change in late patent# pickups was white PVC bobbin wires instead of black (black was used on pre-1965 humbuckers). Also T buckers can use either slot or phillips head screws to hold the bobbins to the base plate. From 1976 to the 1980s they still used the "T bucker" but now they had the correct patent number stamped in the metal bottom plate (no decal).

When buying used Gibson pickups, many people will buy the "Patent No." style with an unopened nickel-plated cover. This pretty much guarentees you'll get a "good" pickup at a fair price (opposed to buying a PAF pickup with the "Patent Applied For" decal intact, which sell for more money). Sonically the nickel plated covered patent# pickups are excellent values, as they are very similar in sound to a real PAF pickup (but are much less expensive). Note if you buy a chrome covered Gibson pickup, it's a crap shoot as to what's inside - it could be either a T-bucker or not (but chances are good it will be a T-Top). For this reason I would generally avoid chrome covered Gibson humbuckers (unless they are really inexpensive), as the odds are against you in hopes of finding a non-Ttop.

Early pickups were wound with #42 plain enameled wire, this wiring looks purple, as opposed to later varieties. During July 1961, Gibson standardized the PAF construction process. A new, smaller Alnico 5 magnetic plate became standard. In about 1963, Gibson switched to polyurethane-coated wire, changing the wire color from purple to red. About 1965-1968, automatic pickup winding machines came into use, thus making pickups that had a consistent number of turns and a fixed DC resistance. In about 1967, the original PAF design changed. These pickups are referred to as the T bucker. Gibson printed the incorrect number on some PAF stickers after they obtained a patent (U.S. Patent 2,896,491) for the PAF pickups. Most humbuckers were labelled with U.S. Patent 2,737,842 until 1962 and the number shown on the pickup is actually a patent for a Gibson trapeze tailpiece bridge and not for a pickup at all. Both true PAFs and incorrect patent marked PAFs are fairly rare today and make an expensive vintage collectors' item.

[StevieM]

Cheers Sai, really helpful. I'll keep this to go with the electrics info I'm collecting.

[Torren61]

Go here:

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/pickups/